[b]Intermediate Low Tier Villain[/b] [hider=Lord Death Man] [b]Superhero/villain Name:[/b] Death Man [b]Civilian Name:[/b] Shousei Kougami [b]Origin city:[/b] Osaka, Japan [b]Hometown:[/b] Tokyo [b]Sex:[/b] Male [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Height:[/b] 5' 10" [b]Weight:[/b] 175 lbs [b]Age:[/b] 122 [b]Birth Date:[/b] October 2nd, 1897 -------- Costumed Appearance: [url=http://comicsalliance.com/files/2015/02/LDM00-630x420.jpg]"There's something really, *truly* wonderful about Sakura in bloom..."[/url] Civilian Appearance: [url=https://i.imgur.com/BA0209K.jpg]Here.[/url] Icon: [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/241615103810732033/361736492663701505/unknown.png]The Mon of the Death Syndicate[/url] [b]Costumed Personality:[/b] Lord Death Man has seen the highs and lows of life. And it shows. He's a tired, cynical old man who finds an inordinate amount of joy in sensational crimes- whether it's stealing an entire battleship, or converting large sections of the homeless population to monsters. He doesn't commit these crimes for the possibility of profit or power, but rather for the sheer spectacle of it- in an age where the heroes of children are in colorful costumes flying about and bench-pressing trains, the idea that one man could orchestrate the theft of Mt. Fuji serves as an excellent counterpoint. Believing that the natural home of the outcast is the criminal organization, he sympathizes with those on the fringes of society- from mutants and Ainu to aliens and the homeless. Of course, he also seeks to recruit these individuals to his organization. Bizarrely, he has a soft spot for disaster victims, and as such has a code not to mess with cities recovering from natural disasters. This does not make him any less brutal, however- he is known for over-the-top executions of those who wrong him and his love of violence. [b]Civilian Personality:[/b] Out of costume, he's a lot less dramatic and a lot more grandfatherly to his men. [b]Super abilities:[/b] -Skills: Lord Death Man is a master acrobat and contortionist, able to bend and squeeze his body into impossibly small spaces. He's also highly skilled in Jiu-Jitsu and Sumo, two of Japan's traditional martial arts. -Powers: --Yoga Mastery: Lord Death Man, despite his criminal nature, is a yogi of immense power- and one of the few superhumans of the Golden Age. He has achieved a number of siddhi and rddhi, the physical and psychic powers of a master yoga mystic. --Siddhi: These are states of cosmic awareness that allow him to alter the way his body works. --- svachanda mṛtyuh: Lord Death Man has the ability to choose when he dies. He just happened to choose "never," becoming completely immortal in the process. If his body is slain or dismembered, he returns to life- and full health- in a matter of moments. ---ājñāpratihatā gatiḥ: While commonly rendered as "your orders and commands shall not be impeded," a more accurate translation would be "your words will not be impeded by language." Death Man can choose to make his words understood by any living creature- extremely useful for evil monologues. ---manojavah: "The ability to send the body to where the mind wanders." This is, more simply put, Astral Projection. His mind and perception can leave his body and travel anywhere in the world. However, his body is left vulnerable- well, as vulnerable as an immortal can be, anyway. --Rddhi: These powers are psychic in origin, and focus on affecting the outside world. ---Addhitana iddhi: Lord Death Man has attained an ultimate willpower, rendering him immune to mind control or mind reading- even from other Yogis. ---Replication of Self: Lord Death Man is capable of creating an endless army of clones. However, as his yoga secrets are stolen rather than obtained by his own merits, the clones are faceless, nearly mindless, and highly aggressive, possessing none of his skills or knowledge. They know well enough to obey his orders, though. Civilian Occupation: Oyabun of the Death Man Syndicate. [b]Biography[/b] --------- Character History/Origin: Ever since the first half of the 20th century, one name was synonymous with Japanese crime: the allegedly immortal Yakuza boss, Death Man. Generations of crimefighters, from the last of the Okkapiki volunteers to modern policemen, rose to face him, and withered in the face of father time. Death Man preferred to play the long game. No one is sure where this skull-masked marauder came from, who he really is, or what has allowed him- or, possibly, his successors- to avoid the ravages of time and violence. The answers are surprisingly simple. Shousei Kougami was born in 1897 to a fisherman and a prostitute, and was left at an orphanage. At the age of nine, he was sent to live with Buddhist monks. These monks told him that through meditation and self-perfection, practitioners could achieve superhuman abilities... but these were extremely rare gifts that even some of the most dedicated monks never achieved. For eight years, he was raised in the strict environment of the monastery, watching as they performed amazing feats- to his young mind, these leaps and feats of strength were beyond the limits normal men. He came to believe that [i]this[/i] was the mystical power the elders spoke of. In reality, they were merely the results of intense training in martial arts- the sort of thing anyone with the time and dedication could learn. However, no matter what sort of talent he displayed at the yoga, acrobatics, or martial arts meant to teach him discipline, he was forever told that he would receive the mystical powers the elders told him of only when he was spiritually ready. An ill-timed outburst saw him get expelled from the monastery, and thrown from its gates. Thus, at the age of 13, Shousei committed his first theft- a small corner store- and left to join the yakuza. He worked loyally, serving as a lookout and decoy for years and slowly working his way up to an actual member of the family. It was with this criminal organization that he first truly felt at home. While he wasn't capable of the incredible abilities like changing his size or teleportation that the elders told him were among the siddhi, he was more than capable as a contortionist, martial artist, and acrobat. Inspired by the (to his mind) noble criminals around him, he decided to use his talents to become the greatest Phantom Thief Japan had seen since Ishikawa Goemon. It was during this time he discovered a love of sensational crime after a number of well-documented heists in his now-iconic skull mask. While the Yakuza had a policy against covert crimes like theft or fraud, there was nothing covert about a man in a garish skeleton costume sneaking by security and foiling guards as he snatched a number of artifacts from their place in museums and noble homes. It wasn't long before the police- and populace- began talking. Calling him "Death Man," describing him as a twisted version of the American Actor Activists. Death Man took this new mantle and made it his own, becoming feared far and wide as an uncatchable thief. Things began looking up for him during what he considers his true start as a supercriminal. In 1919, after leaving a note warning of his intentions, he successfully eluded the guards, foiled the security systems, and broke into the Imperial Treasury. In addition to the gold and jewels he stole, totaling in the neighborhood of a few hundred million yen, he appropriated a few scrolls. Of particular note was a set of three given to the emperor over two hundred years ago as a gift from Indian diplomats, offering a far more detailed study of yoga than the monks ever did. Seeking further knowledge of the alleged mystic secrets, he studied them fervently for years. Over time, he began noticing his body was more flexible than ever, and even that his aging had slowed. Of course, just like martial arts or yoga, these abilities were skills to be practiced, honed, and perfected. By 1937, he had discovered incredible secrets hidden in those two scrolls, and once more donned his now-iconic skull mask and costume to challenge the heads of a few of the smaller Yakuza families. One in particular managed to shoot him directly between the eyes... only for Death man to stand once more and shoot him in the back. Building a gang for himself, he declared himself an Oyabun. With his newfound immortality, it was easy to maintain the position. As he worked to become the head of organized crime in a large section of Japan, using his yoga powers to maintain his position and gather followers- thugs, spiritualists, ninja, inventors, even the ethnically and religiously persecuted of Japan. Lord Death Man's syndicate was unstoppable... but never moved beyond organized crime. After all, while he had a powerful criminal empire, there was no sense risking it by getting greedy. No, he had a clear goal in mind: to maintain his power in Japan's criminal underworld and use that power to track down any scrolls with similar knowledge... as well as any other secret lore he can get his hands on. Some of his enforcers took a liking to the striking image of the skeleton costume, and created colorful personas of their own- the first syndicate of costumed criminals. Though they had no unusual powers, the reputation of Death Man's strange abilities was enough to strike fear into the hearts of those outside the syndicate's protection. During the second World War, he sought to infiltrate the hidden city of Nanda Parbat with the sanction of the Imperial Government- such a city would be an invaluable staging ground for them, and likely contained one or more of the scrolls Death Man sought. The fact they offered total amnesty for the treasonous act of robbing the Imperial Treasury was just icing on the cake. It was here that he first came into contact with a costumed crimefighter- Jade Mantis was there to keep Japanese forces from finding the city. Believing absolutely in the advantage his immortality gave him, his overconfidence was his undoing. Jade Mantis humiliated him in the fight, leading him to slip and fall from the mountain. When he was found by Japanese soldiers days later, he was impaled on a number of icicles. Once his wounds healed and he returned to life, he knew he had to save face... and told them of a great, white, hairy ape that had ambushed him on the mountain pass through the Himalayas, a story from one of the guides they press-ganged into leading them through the mountains. (This was not the last time he would set his sights on Nanda Parbat, but that's a story for another time.) Of course, things changed for Death Man- and the Japanese crimefighters who opposed him- in 1967, with the change in attitude towards costumed crime and crimefighting. Forced to surrender their masks and costumes to the authorities, the heroes were to return to civilian life. Being a criminal, he didn't obey the government's order to unmask at first... but discovered without heroes to oppose, being a costumed villain just wasn't as fun. As such, he focused on the more mundane operations of his syndicate- no more did Lord Death Man, the immortal terror, have an iron grip over the seedy underbelly of Japan. No, now Shousei Kougami, a distinguished gentleman of 70 (though he only looked to be in his mid-40's or early 50's) married 20 years, father of two beautiful sons, the skull-masked criminal kingpin, stood over an incredibly boring empire of gambling, protection money, loan sharking, gang politics, and smuggling. For fifty-two years, he kept up operations- and actually did better than anyone would have ever thought he could. It was profitable, yes, but it lacked the spark of the old days- and administration work just didn't compare to the sheer joy of robbery and assault himself. The only real joy he felt during that time (outside of time with his wife and sons, of course) was traveling the world in search of any surviving scrolls. Now, though, the costumed heroes are returning- and Shousei's joy de vivre with them. There are even new costumed villains coming about- ones that will need an experienced, guiding hand. Perhaps even a home in an existing syndicate- after all, the Yakuza is a home for all the downtrodden. Optional information ---------- Nemesis: Formerly Jade Mantis. Allies: Veiniac (THE MAN WITH HIS BLOOD OUTSIDE HIS BODY!), Kid Kafka (The Roach-Boy of Brooklyn), Kappa Mickey Team: The Death Man Syndicate [/hider]